Westmead connects with global innovators in return of Harvard Hackathon
Nearly 200 people attended the annual Harvard Hackathon was held at Westmead, bringing together participants, mentors and judges from across the Westmead Health Precinct.
Western Sydney’s innovation ecosystem was on full display as the Harvard Systems Innovation Lab (HSIL) global hackathon returned to Westmead Health Precinct for a second year.
Westmead was the only Australian hub, with 170 participants joining thousands from around the world to solve some of health’s biggest problems under the theme, ‘Building High-Value Health Systems: Leveraging AI’.
Clinicians, researchers, students, technologists and industry leaders collaborated over the weekend, generating ideas with the potential to transform healthcare delivery.
Proceedings opened with a keynote address by Dr Kim Sutherland, Executive Director at the Office of Health and Medical Research. Dr Kim reflected on the opportunities and responsibilities that come with applying artificial intelligence to health systems.
The keynote set the tone for a weekend focused on impact, value and real-world application within complex health environments. Across the weekend, teams were ably supported by 15 mentors.
Dr Audrey P Wang, Senior Lecturer in Digital Health at the University of Sydney was the lead organiser.
Amongst many highlights, Dr Wang credits participants putting themselves out of their comfort zone, noting that more than half of participants attended as individuals.
“It was tremendous to see engaged participants adhering to our Australian Hub mantra of connections,” she said.
Over the weekend, participants forged new connections, created teams and worked intensively to develop and refine solutions. The hard work across the weekend culminated in the final pitch session, 17 teams presented their ideas. A judging panel consisting of representatives from Health Answers, Canva, Cicada Innovations, the Australia–India Business Council and Western Sydney Local Health District decided on the winning pitch
Vanessa Stokes, the District’s Acting Chief Digital Health Officer and Chief Information Officer and one of the judges says it was an amazing experience.
“The quality was very high, and it was exciting to see so many creative, viable solutions focused on real-world problems and opportunities in health.”
The results:
- First place: NORA (Nursing Operations Response Assistance), an AI-driven solution focused on improving healthcare systems and patient care.
- Second place: In Sync, a perioperative risk prediction and alert platform.
- Third place: Silly Geese Studio – ALOUD, a communication tool supporting older people with slurred speech
- Honourable mention: Soley, an AI‑powered diabetic foot risk assessment solution.
The three winning teams progressed to the first international Harvard online bootcamp where they had the opportunity to pitch to the global Harvard Health Systems Innovations Lab team. Only 93 out of more than 1,550 teams were invited.
Impressively, NORA and In Sync progressed to the third round, joining only 50 other teams globally invited.
The event was delivered through close collaboration between academic, health and innovation partners, with strong contributions from CMRI, the University of Sydney, UNSW, WSLHD and REN.
Behind the scenes, an enthusiastic Early and Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) organising team ensured the event ran smoothly – from logistics and wayfinding to keeping participants fuelled and focused across the 48-hour sprint. Dr Wang recognised all participants, mentors, judges, partners and the organising team for making this event possible.